Description

The regions of Italy (Italian: regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest.

During the Kingdom of Italy, regions were mere statistical districts of the central state. Under the Republic, they were granted a measure of political autonomy by the 1948 Italian Constitution.

Every region has a statute that serves as a regional constitution, determining the form of government and the fundamental principles of the organization and the functioning of the region, as prescribed by the Constitution of Italy (Article 123). Although all the regions except Tuscany define themselves in various ways as an "autonomous Region" in the first article of their Statutes, fifteen regions have ordinary statutes and five have special statutes, granting them extended autonomy. These regions, whose statutes are approved by their regional councils, were created in 1970, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948.

Artist: Annalisa Masini